Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Frederick Douglass and African American Literature
Frederick Douglass and African American Literature
The joy of reading and writing sherman alexie
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Frederick Douglass and African American Literature
As children, many are exposed to activities such as fishing, baseball, or dance by their parents as a way to introduce them to the world in which they live. I have always considered myself to be incredibly fortunate that my parents chose education, and more specifically, reading to be the extra curricular that has set the stage for the life skills I have learned thus far. Throughout my life, reading has proven itself to be an efficient way to escape the stress that a day has brought, make connections with those around me, and has assisted me in social situations such as job interviews and discussions with my peers. The benefits that reading have granted me can be attributed to the fact that my parents read to me every night as a child; as a …show more content…
No matter how low on money my parents were, my father, in particular, would not say “no” to buying us any piece of literature we wanted. He strongly believed in the importance of literacy and wanted to ensure that my sister and I took every opportunity we had to read. Inevitably, our connection was strengthened and our relationship as father and daughter grew. This is one of the fondest memories I have of my father and I do not believe I would be as avid of a reader if it were not for him and the lessons he taught me. In this respect, I relate closely with Sherman Alexie, a Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-American author. Alexie’s childhood reading experience was much like mine in a sense that he bonded with his father over their shared love for books. In his work, The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me, Alexie recalls, “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well” (Alexie, The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and …show more content…
An enthralling book is all it takes for me to be relieved of stress and studies have proven that is the case for many. Reading has also, over the years, facilitated the formation of meaningful connections for me; one of these connections being the one I have with my father. Lastly, the vocabulary and cultural awareness I have gained through reading has benefited me in various situations and I can foresee this pattern continuing in my future. My lifelong reading experience can be compared to that of popular American authors and historians, such as Sherman Alexie and Frederick Douglass, as literacy has influenced our values in life, our public image, and the way we view our world. In this way, reading is a magical skill as it allows the reader to relate with individuals they would, otherwise, not see themselves being similar to. All in all, my reading experiences have been positive and I look forward to what lies
In the essay, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” Sherman Alexie discusses about how a Superman comic book was the reason he learned to read. He believes that anyone can gain education and achieve their goals if they are willing to put effort, even if the world wants to see you fail. To begin with, Alexie opened up by saying that he learned how to read by reading a “Superman” comic book. Alexie grew up in a Spokane Indian Reservation in eastern Washington. Even though his family was poor, alexie’s father would find his way to collect as many books as he could. His father influenced his love for books and reading. Furthermore, the first word he learned was “paragraphs” and he described it as a “fence that held words,” and began
For me, reading as well as rereading, books such as Junie B Jones, Berenstain Bears, or the Harry Potter series, impacted my life immensely by increasing my vocabulary, developing my vital language skills and many more developmental skills. In the past, being literate meant beating kids in how many books I could read and being able to comprehend difficult vocabulary, but now being literate in the adult world means developing new and creative ideas or being able to prosper an opinion based on facts and previous knowledge.
In a world dominated by technology, reading novels has become dull. Instead of immersing into books, we choose to listen to Justin Bieber’s new songs and to scroll through Instagram posts. We have come to completely neglect the simple pleasures of flipping through pages and getting to finally finish a story. Sherman Alexie and Stephan King’s essays attempt to revive this interest in books that has long been lost. They remind us of the important role that reading plays in our daily lives. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” for instance, demonstrates how being literate saved the narrator from the oppressive nature of society. The author explains that even though he was capable of reading complex books at an astonishingly young
I began to read not out of entertainment but out of curiosity, for in each new book I discovered an element of real life. It is possible that I will learn more about society through literature than I ever will through personal experience. Having lived a safe, relatively sheltered life for only seventeen years, I don’t have much to offer in regards to worldly wisdom. Reading has opened doors to situations I will never encounter myself, giving me a better understanding of others and their situations. Through books, I’ve escaped from slavery, been tried for murder, and lived through the Cambodian genocide. I’ve been an immigrant, permanently disabled, and faced World War II death camps. Without books, I would be a significantly more close-minded person. My perception of the world has been more significantly impacted by the experiences I've gained through literature than those I've gained
"Reading." The Gale Encyclopedia of Childhood and Adolescence. Ed. Jerome Kagan and Susan B. Gall. Online Edition. Detroit: Gale, 2007.
My earliest memories can be found at the hands of paperback novels. Books were my escape from the world around me. The thrill of being able to leave behind the world and it’s baggage and enter another that books provided captivated me, and left an impact on me. The emotion I experienced solely from taking a small step into another person’s story was unlike any I had felt before. I desperately wanted others to feel what I had felt, and love whatever I had become entranced by with the same passion as I did.
The idea of literature being an important aspect of life has always been greatly prevalent in my upbringing. This notion that I supported was spurred on at the cause of my obstinate parents insisting upon my reading of two books a week to benefit my vocabulary and to develop the articulate thought process of a skilled reader. As a young child, my biggest influences were my parents’ passionate and persuasive ideas regarding the correlation between
My dad taught me that books could be my teachers, my mom taught me that our backyard could be my classroom, and my sister showed me that you could bring books into the swimming pool. I did not know it when I would spend hours in the pool reading a book that my parents weren’t encouraging it in vain, but my family life, for good reason, was centered on books. We were the planets orbiting around one sun that was the bookshelf. Little did I know that books would be the catalyst to academic success in my early life, and I owe it all to my family. Although a life with a book in your nose might seem boring, I was never bored. Living through the characters vicariously, I explored Narnia with Lucy, attended Hogwarts with Harry, and rode dragons with Eragon. Of course
Growing up in working class family, my mom worked all the time for the living of a big family with five kids, and my dad was in re-education camp because of his association with U.S. government before 1975. My grandma was my primary guardian. “Go to study, go to read your books, read anything you like to read if you want to have a better life,” my grandma kept bouncing that phrase in my childhood. It becomes the sole rule for me to have better future. I become curious and wonder what the inside of reading and write can make my life difference. In my old days, there was no computer, no laptop, no phone…etc, to play or to spend time with, other than books. I had no other choice than read, and read and tended to dig deep in science books, math books, and chemistry books. I tended to interest in how the problem was solved. I even used my saving money to buy my own math books to read more problems and how to solve the problem. I remembered that I ended up reading the same math book as my seventh grade teacher. She used to throw the challenge questions on every quiz to pick out the brighter student. There was few students know how to solve those challenge questions. I was the one who fortunately nailed it every single time. My passion and my logic for reading and writing came to me through that experience, and also through my grandma and my mom who plant the seed in me, who want their kids to have happy and better life than they were. In my own dictionary, literacy is not just the ability to read and write, it is a strong foundation to build up the knowledge to have better life, to become who I am today.
If one were to look at my varied reading habits, they would be struck by the diversity and over all unusualness of my mind’s library. I hardly remember the plot of the first book I read, but it was called Lonesome Dove. It wasn’t the actual first book I read, but I don’t really count the McGregor Readers from kindergarten. I read it in first grade because of my Grandmother’s fascination in the T.V. mini-series that was playing during the time. I wanted to be able to talk to her about it so I went to the public library that weekend and picked up a copy. Well, I actually didn’t pick it up, it was too heavy. It took me over two and a half months to read, but with the help of a dictionary and my grandma, I finally read it from cover to cover. I can’t really say that I understood it, because I don’t recall what it was about. But I do remember that it was quite an ordeal. Since then I have read many books. I enjoy fiction the best, especially those that are based on society, but have a small twist that leads to an interesting story. Some of the stories that I remember best from that early time in my life are Tales from Wayside Elementary School, Hatchet, The Godfather, and The Giver. I think that Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, is the only book that I’ve read more than once. I liked the situation that Brian was put into, lost in the wilderness, with nothing more to fend for himself with than his mind and a trusty hatchet. The adversity he faces and his undying drive are what fascinated me most. Since that time my reading habits have grown into a different style. I have usually only read what was assigned to me during the school year because that was all I had time to do, but I have always strived to put forth extra effort. For example: last year for English 3 AP we had to read an excerpt from Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography. Although that we only had to read a small bit, I checked the entire book from the college library and read it all. Although the way that Franklin rambled on and on about his “Franklin Planner” was somewhat boring, the way he describe his life was pure poetry.
Reading was never something I fussed about growing up. As a child, I loved genres of realistic fiction. I was hooked on The New Adventures of Mary Kate and Ashley, Goosebumps, The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes, Judy Moody, and especially, Zoobooks and Highlights magazines. My mother was always ready to help build my reading and writing skills. She took me to the library constantly to feed my passion for books and knowledge. I loved exploring the shelfs, organizing the books, and filling up my library cart. I tried keeping a diary in elementary school to keep track of my outings with my parents and grandparents to museums, zoos, movies, and libraries. This flash of writing enthusiasm was spun from books I read in the 4th and 5th grade that were
My parents instilled a passion for reading in me even as a toddler; years later, an excellent,
Reading has been a part of my life from the second I was born. All throughout my childhood, my parents read to me, and I loved it. I grew up going to the library and being read to constantly. Especially in the years before Kindergarten, reading was my favorite thing to do. I grew up loving fairy tales and thriving on the knowledge that I could have any book I wanted, to be read to me that night. Having no siblings, my only examples were my parents, and they read constantly. Without a family that supported my love of reading throughout my childhood, I wouldn’t appreciate it nearly as much as I have and do now.
When I was younger, I didn’t like reading much at all. I always questioned my teachers what was the purpose of reading; I never got an answer from either teacher until I was in the seventh grade. Starting junior high school was different from elementary. In seventh grade, we were in our reading class for two hours a day. I asked the teachers why didn’t we have the privilege to stay in our other classes for two hours; I never received an answer from my teachers.
Literature has an enormous impact on a child’s development during the early years of his or her life. It is important for parents and teachers to instill a love of reading in children while they are still young and impressionable. They are very naive and trusting because they are just beginning to develop their own thoughts, so they will believe anything they read (Lesnik, 1998). This is why it is so important to give them literature that will have a positive impact. Literature can make children more loving, intelligent and open minded because reading books gives them a much wider perspective on the world. Through reading, children’s behavior can be changed, modified or extended, which is why books are so influential in children’s lives while they are young (Hunt, 1998). Literature has the power to affect many aspects of a child’s life and shapes their future adult life.